Field Turf Project Proceeding at Glass Bowl
By JPH | August 19, 2008
The turf is going down at the Glass Bowl with the football season just around the bend. The thing that really popped out at me from this article was this little bit:
The FieldTurf surface will provide a dramatic new look for Rocket football fans. Each five-yard strip on the field is alternatively dark green and light green, while the end zones are a striking midnight blue. FieldTurf replaces the stadium’s previous surface, NeXturf, which was installed in 2001. Previous to that, the Rockets played on an Astroturf surface.
Alternating dark green and light green ? Midnight blue end zones ? Sounds good to me. Can’t wait to see how this all comes together and how it looks on TV. Hope the slight change in scenery helps the Rocket play more inspired football.
Read the article from UTRockets.com for the whole scoop.
Topics: Football, News | No Comments »
Ex-player charged in Toledo point-shaving conspiracy
By L8N | August 6, 2008
TOLEDO, Ohio — A former University of Toledo basketball player has been charged with fixing games, according to a federal indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit.Sammy Villegas, who played for four years at Toledo, is accused of shaving points in games during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.Villegas, a guard who finished his career in 2006, also paid money to another player who took part in the point-shaving scheme, prosecutors said. The other player was not charged or named in the indictment, which was filed June 30. Villegas was charged with conspiracy to influence sports contests by bribery and received money and other gifts in exchange for fixing games, prosecutors said.Prosecutors also didn’t name who paid the players. Villegas traveled to Michigan several times to meet with another participant in the scheme, the indictment said. He intentionally missed two free throws in a game against Central Michigan in 2006, the indictment said.
That was the whole article from ESPN. Check it here. A shame for the University of Toledo, and the sport. College basketball isn’t about that, and neither is the University of Toledo. I can remember Villegas being a major contributor to the basketball team, and knowing he intentionally hurt the team for his own fortune flat out disgusts me. I feel betrayed. The University feels betrayed. The sport feels betrayed.
Topics: Basketball, General | 2 Comments »
The Mid-American hates Toledo
By JPH | July 31, 2008
Caught this little entry on ESPN - and thought it was a good accessment of the current state of things:
There is no MAC team in the last 40 years that has been as successful as Toledo. It boasts 10 MAC championships, seven West Division titles, an 8-2 record in major bowls and was the first MAC team to have a player finish in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy (quarterback Chuck Ealey finished eighth in 1971)
The Rockets lost just nine conference games from 2000-2005. The coach goes by “Toledo Tom” Amstutz.
The last couple years haven’t been nearly as kind. The Rockets have stumbled to consecutive 5-7 seasons much to the delight of the rest of the conference, because who doesn’t like to kick a good team while it’s down?
Hop the link to the article for the rest of the scoop.
Topics: Football, MAC | 1 Comment »
Rockets Picked to Finish in Fourth Place in MAC West Division
By JPH | July 29, 2008
I’ve gotta admit, this pisses me off. I know we’re not stellar, and coming off the past two seasons, I can understand why there would be some doubt with these voters….. but 4th ? Fourth ? Seriously ? Here’s how it looks in the West:
WEST DIVISION (6-5-4-3-2-1 point system)
1. Central Michigan - 207
2. Ball State - 168
3. Western Michigan - 143
4. Toledo - 98
5. Eastern Michigan - 80
6. Northern Illinois - 60
What happened to all this talk of an improved Rocket defense ? If our offense isn’t horrible (which it wasn’t last year) and our defense stops the bleed (and it was definitely bleeding last season) shouldn’t we have the tools to handle Western Michigan or Ball State, at least ? I’ll be the first to admit that we may not beat all the teams in the West - and prehaps Central Michigan is out of our league. My problem is that going into it, people who know something about football think that Western Michigan, Ball State and Central will all be better than Toledo. And that’s no good. I became a Rocket in 2000, when Toledo was climbing to the top of the MAC and starting to show the entire country that MAC teams could hold their own on the national scene. I know the last few seasons have been disappointing, to say the least — but 4th in the MAC is unacceptable when there has been so much hype about our rebuilt defense, key players returning from injury, and our quarterback situation looking positive for the first time since Bruce was lobbing the pigskin into the end zone.
I hope for a lot more than 4th in the West out of this team. It’s time to fix what has happened over the past couple years. Give us a reason to come to games again — you don’t have to win every game, just play like you want to win every game, like you’re capable of winning every game. Play with the same heart and passion that we cheer with. Rockets, now’s your chance to prove them wrong.
Topics: Football, MAC | 1 Comment »
If only this were real…
By JPH | July 21, 2008
Topics: General | No Comments »
New Turf in Glassbowl; Ready by Home Opener
By JPH | July 17, 2008
Earlier in the week, workers pulled up the old turf in the GB and soon they’ll put down new:
The surface, with a price tag of nearly $1 million, is used at hundreds of stadiums at all levels of play across the nation, including Bowling Green State University and Central Catholic and Whitmer high schools. The cost will be covered by the university’s general financial reserves.
The Glass Bowl has had an artificial turf for more than 30 years. The most recent surface, NeXturf, was installed in 2001. All Mid-American Conference teams except Temple play their home games on artificial turf.
The NeXturf had a life expectancy of eight years but UT decided to make a move sooner. UT athletic director Mike O’Brien called FieldTurf “the popular turf.”
Will this change help quell all the injuries to the Rockets ? We can only hope. Will it make the Rockets play any better defense ? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Source
Topics: Football, News | 3 Comments »
Barry Church Named to Jim Thorpe Watch List
By JPH | July 15, 2008
University of Toledo junior strong safety Barry Church (Pittsburgh, PA) was recently named to the 2008 Jim Thorpe Award preseason “watch list.” Church is one of 40 of the nation’s best defensive backs as the leading candidates for this year’s trophy. Church earlier this summer was named to the “watch list” for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football.
Congrats to Church and the Rockets. It’s great to see Barry getting some credit for helping the Rockets so much over the past years.
Church has made first-team All-MAC in each of the last two seasons. He was third on team and tied for 18th in MAC with 92 tackles in 2007, and tied for team lead with three interceptions. In 2006, Church led the Rockets with four interceptions while making first-team All-MAC and second-team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News and by Scout.com. He also placed third in balloting for MAC Freshman of the Year.
Lets hope he can continue to contribute to the Rockets the way he has in the last few years…. but, lets hope they need his help a little less than they have the past few years.
Topics: Football, News | No Comments »
Report: Kaczur cooperates with DEA following arrest
By JPH | June 4, 2008
New England Patriots offensive lineman Nick Kaczur was arrested in April for illegal possession of prescription painkillers and cooperated with federal agents in a sting of his alleged supplier, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.The newspaper cited the alleged dealer’s lawyer, a federal affidavit and two sources who had been briefed on the investigation and were speaking on condition of anonymity in reporting that Kaczur, 28, wore a wire during three drug buys in southeastern Massachusetts. The third of those buys was followed by federal agents arresting the alleged supplier.
The lawyer for the alleged dealer said Kazcur told investigators he had been purchasing hundreds of oxycodone pills from the man since November 2007, according to the report.
The alleged dealer, Daniel Ekasala, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on three counts of possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute. He was expected to be arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston, the newspaper reported.
On Tuesday, Kaczur denied taking part in a federal investigation or buying drugs and said he was not familiar with Ekasala, the Globe reported.
I’m not sure what to say about this - I always though Kaczur was pretty straight-laced. I guess it’s good that he cooperated with the authorities instead of going berserk, getting all hopped up on crack, and shooting up some cops, like athletes tend to seem to want to do these days when they get caught breaking the law.
Not the kind of publicity we’d like to see for Toledo alumni in the NFL - and then to deny the whole thing, like Kaczur did…. what’s going on ?
Topics: Alumni, Football | 2 Comments »
